{"id":1260,"date":"2018-05-23T10:01:05","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T14:01:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1260"},"modified":"2018-05-23T10:01:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-23T14:01:05","slug":"wolf-in-poets-clothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1260","title":{"rendered":"Wolf in Poet&#8217;s Clothing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1261\" src=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6405-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Foggy trees\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6405-1024x683.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6405-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6405-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6405-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6405-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">Here&#8217;s what you need to know about me. I learned to read at four years old and have loved books ever since. I write werewolf novels for a living. And I haven&#8217;t taken an English class since twelfth grade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">Perhaps that&#8217;s why walking into a retreat center full of literary writers felt like willingly throwing myself to the wolves.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?page_id=395\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1263\" src=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/shiftlessbybridge-1024x537.jpg\" alt=\"Shiftless by Aimee Easterling\" width=\"1024\" height=\"537\" srcset=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/shiftlessbybridge-1024x537.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/shiftlessbybridge-300x157.jpg 300w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/shiftlessbybridge-768x403.jpg 768w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/shiftlessbybridge.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">&#8220;Are you the off-site person?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">I turned, but didn&#8217;t really take in anything about the speaker. Instead, my eyes flitted from chatting poet to chatting poet, scanning for signs of danger. &#8220;Yes?&#8221; I managed, the word lilting upward into a question rather than an admission of fact.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">&#8220;Your car&#8217;s on the golf-cart path&#8230;&#8221; the retreat-center manager started. But my apology was already erupting before her explanation of my transgression could work itself out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1255\" src=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6436-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Exit sign\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6436-1024x683.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6436-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6436-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6436-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6436-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">&#8220;I&#8217;m so sorry&#8230;&#8221; Heart racing, cheeks heating, I patted my pockets in search of car keys. Or a protective clove of garlic. I wasn&#8217;t exactly sure which.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">I <i>knew<\/i> I was risking ostracism by daring to come here. I\u00a0<em>knew<\/em> I should have stayed home in my safe writing den.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">Here&#8217;s what I didn&#8217;t know. After absolving me of all wrongdoing, the manager would stride onto the stage and speak with the same Appalachian lilt I have. She&#8217;d share a story shrouded in fog but lacking in poetry then enjoy an ovation so loud my ears would ring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">The poets in the audience would share food and words and boundary-pushing over the course of the weekend. Then we&#8217;d all come back together in this same auditorium, reading aloud the results of a closing writing prompt.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1257\" src=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6500-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Bookstore ladder\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6500-1024x683.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6500-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6500-300x200.jpg 300w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6500-768x512.jpg 768w, http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/DSCF6500-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">&#8220;What happened at the retreat was&#8230;I came terrified and left elated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">&#8220;What happened at the retreat was&#8230;I was so anxious when I walked through the door I could barely breathe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">&#8220;What happened at the retreat was&#8230;I didn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d fit in but did anyway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">What happened at the retreat was, I embraced my two-natured literary skin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s what you need to know about me. I learned to read at four years old and have loved books ever since. I write werewolf novels for a living. And I haven&#8217;t taken an English class since twelfth grade. Perhaps that&#8217;s why walking into a retreat center full of literary writers felt like willingly throwing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aimee-easterling-inspiration","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1260"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1265,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1260\/revisions\/1265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}